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Alexandria Ingham is a professional writer. She predominately ghost-writes in various niches, including fitness, finance and technology Everything is fully researched and well-written. Under her own name, she writes in the technology, business, history and weight loss niches

Why You’re Not Ready to Be a Freelance Writer

I don’t usually tell people that they’re not good enough to be a freelance writer. I get a lot of messages and some of them I do have a feeling that they’re just not ready to write, but I don’t discourage them.

A lot of the time, I try to help where I can. But I have less time in the day to do this and my own projects to work on. So this is more of a letter to all those who I think just aren’t ready to be a freelance writer yet.

Keep working on it, because you will get there one day with time, practice, and the willingness to hire an editor.

Let’s start with the reasons you’re not ready to be a freelance writer.

Your English Isn’t Good Enough

This is the number one problem. There are going to be the odd spelling mistakes in emails and Facebook messages. I get that and move on.

But the problem is when the whole message is just so hard to understand. If you can’t get your message across to me, then you’re not going to get your message across to others. If there are lots of mistakes, like misused words, the missing “the” and “a” I see a lot, or a lack of understanding about the use of punctuation and capital letters, then you’re not ready yet.

Don’t take this as a snub. I want you to get back to the drawing board and work on your English. Being a freelance writer is more than just stringing a few words together. It takes planning to create a good blog post—something that is compelling for others.

If your English isn’t good enough, you won’t be able to get to the next step.

You may be able to get around this by hiring an editor. I actually recommend this for everyone, because even editors make mistakes in their own writing!

You Don’t Have the Drive

Without passion and drive, you’re not going to be a successful writer. While I can help with motivation and find ways to keep your commitment going to this business, if you don’t have the passion or drive to start it with, your interest will drop.

I need writers who really want to make this work. You need to come to me with excitement to show that this is something that you want to succeed in. And I can tell through messages and discussions on Skype.

Sure, you may have a bad day now and then. If you don’t have the passion or drive, that bad day will be the reason you give up. If you have the passion to start, one bad day isn’t going to be the end of it.

You’re Not Willing to Work at It

You won’t get accepted for the first writing job you apply for. And your first writing job isn’t going to net you that $1,000-$2,000 per month that you’re aiming for to start with.

You need to work hard. This isn’t an overnight success thing. Sure, it seems like writers just pop up out of nowhere, but they’ve worked for years to get to where they are. And any good writing mentor will be honest with you about the time it’s taken them to get where they are.

It took me two years to get a successful full-time business. I’ve worked on it since for the last four years to the point where I’m the sole earner with a comfortable life. This isn’t about living paycheck to paycheck but about enjoying time with the family and keeping the business going.

I was more than willing to work hard to get to this point. I still work hard to keep the promotional posts going and get all the content out there. Deadlines can be tight, but I appreciate that it’s all worth it.

If you’re not willing to put the work into it, you’re not ready to be a freelance writer.

I’m not saying that you’ll never be a writer, but that right now you’re not ready for it. You need to really want this and be willing to work at it. At the same time, you need to start with a good grasp of the English language—and this applies to native and non-native speakers! I can’t tell you the amount of native English speakers I’ve seen unable to string a sentence together!

Make sure you’re ready to be a freelance writer. When you are, I’m right here to help you the rest of the way as your writing mentor.

Alexandria Ingham is a professional writer. She predominately ghost-writes in various niches, including fitness, finance and technology Everything is fully researched and well-written. Under her own name, she writes in the technology, business, history and weight loss niches

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